RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to characterize the immunohistochemical expression of galectin 1, 3, and 9 in normal oral epithelium, oral squamous papilloma, and oral squamous cell carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining for galectins 1, 3, and 9 was evaluated in 8 samples of normal oral squamous epithelium, 15 samples of oral squamous papilloma, and 41 samples of oral squamous cell carcinoma. Immunohistochemical data were assessed by Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test followed by Dunn's test. For all analyzes, it was adopted the value of P <0.05 for statistical significance. RESULTS: Significant differences were found in galectin- 3 expression when comparing ordinary mucosa and oral squamous papilloma with the oral squamous cell carcinoma samples. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that galectin-3 is closely involved in malignant transformation of oral mucosa cells.